ROYERSFORD – With underclassmen filling out a good portion of his lineup this spring, Bruce Brobst is still getting to know who’s who and who can do what.

But the veteran Spring-Ford coach sure learned a thing or two about his personnel Wednesday afternoon.

First and foremost, senior Tyler Eckman – not among the gang of newcomers, of course – is as a reliable as ever on the mound, and sophomore third baseman Connor Klemann is capable of handling himself rather well in pressure situations.

The two played major roles in Wednesday afternoon’s extra-inning, 3-2 win over Boyertown –in an early (and quite chilly) Pioneer Athletic Conference feature between last year’s league finalists at Ram Stadium.

The right-handed Eckman threw all eight innings, allowing just two singles – both in the third inning – walked two and struck out three … and needed just 105 pitches to finish the affair. He also handled five shots back to the mound flawlessly, and contributed at the plate as well with a couple of basehits, including an RBI single.

But it was Klemann, in just his second start for the Rams, who came up big in the clutch.

After battling the heralded North Carolina-bound A.J. Bogucki to even terms through five innings only to get blanked the next two by reliever Tyler Bauman for two more, the Rams had one out and nobody on in the bottom of the eighth. Then R.J. Sheldon made up for fanning while attempting to bunt up a runner an inning earlier with a double to left-center. Three pitches later, Klemann lined a single to right-center to bring Sheldon across with the decisive run.

“Tyler pitched well and Klemann, well, he’s a player,” Brobst said after Rams improved to 2-0 in the league and overall. “This was a nice, nice win.”

That it was, especially considering how young the Rams are and how they responded against an imposing Bogucki and the defending champion Bears (2-1).

Though they committed four errors, one on a runner’s interference call that helped the guests in their two-hit, two-run third inning, the Rams showed considerable composure in the field and at the plate. Just enough, as a matter of fact, to erase the 2-0 deficit immediately with a two-spot of their own in the bottom half of the third. Then they played defense to help Eckman set down 13 straight Boyertown batters, or the final 18 if not for a strikeout-passed ball and one-out, eighth-inning infield bobble.

“Obviously Bogucki is tough,” Brobst said of the Bears’ ace, who had an estimated 15 professional scouts watching him Wednesday. “We’re young and inexperienced, but I’m pleased with their focus. You don’t often have the opportunity to see, let alone play, against a pitcher of that caliber, so to see how our kids responded to that situation…and to see how they responded after we gave up those two runs by coming right back with two to tie it was great.”

Boyertown head coach Todd Moyer wasn’t as disappointed in the loss as much as he was the lack of execution.

“Our kids battled, but no way we should’ve let (Eckman) finish this game,” Moyer said. “We didn’t make him work hard enough. As hitters we have to do a better job extending the counts and rolling the ball.

“Other than that we played pretty well. We even made some nice defensive plays out there, especially (Wesley) Fox out there at shortstop.”

Boyertown went in front 2-0 when Tony Casper led off the third with a single and was awarded second on runner’s interference as he rounded the first-base bag. An out later, Brandon Griesemer brought Casper around on a single, then stole second and third – easing home on the tail end of that second steal as a result of an errant throw.

Spring-Ford answered with back-to-back, one-out singles by Zack Zoller and Nick Fuhrmeister. Ryan Cass’ reached when the Bears’ relay from second to first to complete a double play sailed wild enabling Zoller to score. Then, following a walk to David Gulati, Eckman evened it up at 2-2 with a single through the hole on the right side.

While the Bears could muster any offense against Eckman, the Rams had quite a few chances to break the stalemate against Bogucki – who threw 97 pitches in five innings – and Bauman. But they stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

They ended the frustration in the eighth.

“It was a 2-1 count, so I was definitely looking for a strike,” Klemann said. “I knew (Bauman) didn’t have time to mess around. I’m not used to being in that situation, but I was pretty locked in at that point. Sheldon hitting the double was real big, though. Hitting is contagious, and when (Sheldon) got the double it gave me a lot of confidence up there.

“So this was definitely a big win for us. A nice early (season) win.”

NOTESBogucki, a first-team All-Pioneer Athletic Conference selection last year, gave up three hits, walked three and fanned five in five innings. … Fuhrmeister and Eckman, who has signed to play at East Stroudsburg next year, were the lone two batters with multiple-hit afternoons. … Rams have committed seven errors in their two games thus far.